Partizan Belgrade have denied agreeing a deal with Chelsea for the sale of Lazar Markovic.

Reports suggested the European champions have all but wrapped up the signing of 18-year-old Serbia star Markovic, who has been heavily linked with a move to the Barclays Premier League.

But Partizan sporting director Ljubisa Tumbakovic told Sportski Zurnal: "I swear on my mother that I really do not know anything about this. On Saturday, I spoke with club president Dragan Djuric and he also told me that he knows nothing about Markovic's transfer to Chelsea."

He added: "I don't know, he doesn't know. Maybe the journalists have better information than us in the club!"

Reports had claimed Chelsea were on the brink of finalising a deal, with the major remaining stumbling block being whether Markovic joined them in January or next summer.